Landlord Rights

If you’re currently considering the option of offering one of your properties for rental purposes, you should first educate yourself about the landlord tenant relationship. For the first timers, it’s even important to get to know of their rights and duties as a landlord. Becoming a landlord is not as simple as it might look; it also involves paying attention to several issues, including rent agreements, eviction, privacy issues and much more. Due to the legal nature of this issue, you should take the plunge only when you’re completely aware of your rights and obligations.

It is worth understanding that when you rent your apartment or house to another person, you will be entering into a legal contract – the landlord tenant relationship. While different states have different laws and regulations for landlords and tenants, the basics will usually be the same. Speaking of rights, one of the basics is to receive rent on time. If a tenant is not doing so, it’s your choice to take them to the court and make them move out. Similarly, another important landlord right is to get their property back “undamaged” when the agreement is over. It means that nothing should be damaged in the property and a tenant should return it in exactly the same condition it was received.

However, it is also quite important to understand that landlords will also have some obligations or duties towards their tenants. For instance, when they get their rent in full and the tenant takes care of their property, they should be willing to listen to their tenants and help make the home habitable; they should also be willing to make any repairs when required. Moreover, your rental apartment should be safe to live and be equipped with smoke detector and other facilities.

Landlords duties are not limited to making sure that their property is habitable; they should also respect their tenant’s rights. For instance, right of peaceful possession is one of the most important tenant’s rights that a landlord should give to their tenants. Once you have offered your property to a tenant, you should give them complete freedom to live as they please. Of course, they shouldn’t be hurting your property, but they should be free to maintain their lifestyle in their own way. A landlord should not interfere in a tenant’s personal life – they should not pay frequent visits and that too at odd hours and with no prior notice. Landlords can arrange inspection sessions to ensure their property is safe and doesn’t require any repairs, but it’s advisable to give at least a 24-hour notice to inform tenant about your intentions.

It is worth mentioning that though it’s a landlord’s right to receive rent on time, but sometimes tenants fail to do so. In this event, a landlord should serve a written notice stating that the rent is overdue. What you should bear in mind is that landlords cannot retaliate unethically even when the tenant refuses to pay; they cannot shut off utilities, raise the rent and so on.

The fact of the matter is that renting a house or apartment is a way to enter into a legal relationship, and both landlords and tenants will have certain rules to follow. They have duties as well as rights, and if both parties know these obligations and rights and learn to abide by them, the arrangement will work for both.

Posted on Oct 22, 2012

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